Flashlight



Jan. 6, 1942. w. R. KOPP FLASHLIGHT Filed Oct. 31'. 1939 W WW W W2 mm 7 a M3 W 8 Pat ented Jan. 6, 1942 v UNITED STATES,"

PATENT OFFICE-.10

ELASHLIGHT I Walter R. Kopp, New Haven, Conn, assignorto Western Cartridge Company,

v New Haven,

Cnn'.,.a corporation of Delaware "Application October 31.1939, Serial No..s02,091.

' 6 Claims;

with the reflector was not always maintained.

Any wearing of the threads orany variation in tightening the lamp bulb, in its socket would shift its position and therefore move it withhrespect to the reflector.

' A recent development in a portable, handlamp.

construction includes the useof prefocusedbulbs.

Such bulbs vare provided with anj unthreaded stem and with a flange or shoulder. surrounding the stem. v The lampbulb is insertedthrough. the opening in the reflectorwith'the stem projecting. rearwardly from the. openingand it is retained in position by engagement of theflange or shoulder with a seat arran ed at the rear side of the reflector opening. The opposite. side. of the. flange or shoulder on the lamp bulb stemis engaged by suitable jmeans for retaining the shoulq der or flange against its seat.

In the present invention I employ a reflector.

stamped from sheetmetal andin place of the threaded boss of the die cast reflector for supporting the lamp holding means, I provide a threaded member. which is secured to thejbottom of the reflector and supports the lamp holding means. The threaded member is preferably see cured to the reflector by means of a bushing whichforms. the seat for theflangeor projection on ,the'lamp bulb, stem and which is spunover the edge of the reflector opening and the threaded member to secure-the parts ,to each other. This construction provides av simple and inexpensive means for supporting. the lamp holding means andgpermitting the use of stamped Fig. 3 is a similar view of the threaded memberwhich is secured to the reflector;

Fig. 4 is. a similar view. of the bushingbymeans ofwhichthe reflector and threaded member are secured to each other; I

Fig. 5 is a plan view of thereflector; I Fig. 6 is a similar view ofthe threaded. mem-- ber;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, sectional view on line 1-! of Fig. -5 of the refiectonthreaded member and bushing showing themanner' in which these parts'are secured toeachother;

.Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the reflector and lamp'holdingmeans showinganotherformof the 15 invention; and

. Fig; 9 is a sectional view of asleeve employed in the construction of Fig. 8 in place of the bushingof the other form ofthe device.

Referring toFigs. l. to? of thedrawin'g, the reference numeral I designates generally a portion of a hand lamp casing vhavinga flared upper end 2...,A. battery is mounted in the casing inthe. usual manner, the endof the upper cell, of

the battery being. shown at ,3. This-cell is provided with a central electrode 4. :The enlarged head of the casingis threaded as at '5 and'is provided with a flange 6. A reflector 1 is mount ed in the end of the casing, the reflector-being provided with a peripheral flange 8. which rests upon the flange 6. A ring of insulating material 9 may be arranged between the flanges 6} and 8. A lens I0 is arranged on theflange 'Bof thereflector and it may be surrounded by .a strip I'l of insulating .material; The. reflector and lens are retained in position by an end cap l2 which is internally threaded at to engage the-threads 5 onthe'end of the casing. I I

As stated,fI employ a reflector stamped-from sheet metal and this reflector is provided with theusual central opening 14. Tosupport the lamp bulbat the rearof the reflector I provide a threaded memberl5 having a central opening I 6 which is adapted to be aligned with theopeningin the reflector. The threaded member 15 and the reflector are secured to each other by a bushing 11 which is originally of the shape parts in place of the die cast parts heretofore used. In the accompanyingdrawing I have shown several embodiments of the invention. In this showing:

Fig. 1 is avertical, sectional view of the end of ahand lamp casingshowing the invention applied;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the reflector;

shown in Fig.4. As shown. the endof-the cylindrical portion of the threaded memberis provided with a-flange 18 extending inwardly and downwardly substantially in, the shape of the parabolic reflector I. The reflector] and the threaded member [5 are assembled as sh'ownin Fig. v'7 of the drawing andbushing llisinserted in the central openings with the flange 18 of the thread d m b 5; restin upon. surface 19 of the bushing as shown. The bushing is provided with a central cylindrical portion 20 which is then spun over the adjacent portion of the reflector as shown at 2| to secure the parts to each other. The reflector 1 may be provided with a series of notches 22 surrounding the central openings. The threaded member I5 is likewise provided with a series of up-struck portions 22' around the opening l6 which are adapted to enter the notches 22 to cause the two members to become interlocked and prevent relative rotary movement of said members.

Any suitable means may be employed for supporting a lamp bulb from the threaded member I5. I may, for instance, employ the construction shown in my copending application Serial No. 194,023, filed March 5, 1938 (now Patent No. 2,235,024, granted March 18, 1941). In Fig. 1 of the drawing, a bulb 23 of the prefocused type is shown arranged in the reflector. This bulbis provided with an unthreaded stem 24 with a flange or projection 25 surrounding the upper portion of the stem. The bushing I1 is provided with a seat 26 and the lamp bulb is held in its proper position by forcing the flange 25 against the seat 26. The means for securing the lamp bulb in position may comprise a metallic cap 21 which is internally threaded to engage the threads of the threaded member 15. The bottom of this cap is. provided with a central opening and a pair of insulating discs 28 and 29 are disposed around this opening on the inside and outside of the cap, respectively. A U-shaped contact arm 36 is mounted in the cap and is adapted to engag the base terminal 3| of the bulb 23. The contact arm is held against the inner insulating disc 28 by a rivet 32 which extends through the opening in the base of the cap and an opening in the contact arm 30. The head of the rivet engages the central electrode 4 of the battery. The openingin the base of the cap is sufliciently large to permit clearance between the cap and the rivet whereby the electrical connection is thus formed between the central electrode of the battery and the base terminal of the lamp.

While the contact arm 36 urges the bulb toward the seat 26 additional means is preferably provided for positively retaining the bulb against its seat. A collar 33 is disposed in the cap with its rear end seated on a shoulder 34 of the cap. The forward portion of the collar surrounds the stem of the lamp bulb and is provided with a flange 35 which engages the flange or projection 25 of the lamp bulb to hold the lamp bulb on its seat.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawing the construction is substantially as heretofore described except that in place of the bushing I1 I provide a sleeve 36 which extends into the reflector and is provided with a seat 31 forthe lamp bulb. This construction is used with larger reflectors than the reflector shown in Figs. 1 to 7 of the drawing and is for the purpose of moving the bulb axially when necessary to properly focus it. By using sleeves 36 of different size the lamp bulb may be placed wherever is necessary for the purpose of focusing the lamp with respect to the reflector. As shown ahead 38 is spun in the cylindrical portion of sleeve 36 and the reflector and threaded member l5 are arranged beneath this bead as shown in Fig. 8 in assembling the parts. The lower edge of the sleeve 36 is then spun over the adjacent surface of the flange I8 of the threaded member as indicated at 39'whereby the reflector and the threaded member are clamped between the bead 38 and the spun-over edge 39 to secure the parts to each other. The bulb 23 is then mounted in position against the seat 31 by means of the cap 21 and the collar 33 in the manner heretofore described in connection with the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7.

By securing the stamped reflector and the threaded member IE to each other by means of the bushing 11 or the sleeve 36 I therefore provide a means for supporting a bulb of the prefocused type in the reflector of a portable hand lamp in a manner similar to that heretofore employed in connection with die cast reflectors having a threaded part to which the lamp bulb supporting means could be secured. It is apparent that the construction provides eflicient means for supporting the lamp bulb and at the same time is an inexpensive construction to produce, as compared with the constructions heretofore employed for this purpose. Throughout the claims the word bushing is used to designate either the bushing shown in Figs. 1 to '7 of the drawing or the sleeve shown in Figs. 8 to 9 of the drawing.

I claim:

1. A hand lamp comprising a reflector having a central opening, a member comprising a threaded sleeve having a flange shaped to correspond to the shape of the reflector adjacent said opening, the flange being provided with an opening in alignment with the opening in the reflector, a bushing arranged in said openings and spun over the adjacent portion of the reflector to secure the reflector and the member to each other, and a second threaded member carried by the sleeve for retaining a bulb in the reflector.

2. A hand lamp comprising a reflector having a central opening, a member secured thereto having a portion shaped to correspond to the shape of the exterior of the reflector adjacent the opening and havingan opening in alignment with the opening of the reflector, a bushing arranged in the openings and spun over the adjacent surface of the reflector to secure the reflector and member to each other, said bushing being provided with a seat, said member comprising a threaded sleeve, and means secured thereto for supporting a bulb on said seat.

3. A hand lamp comprising a reflector having a central opening therein, a threaded member having a portion shaped to correspond to the shape of the exterior of the reflector adjacent the reflector opening and being provided with an opening arranged in alignment with the reflector opening, a member received in said openings having a surface to be engaged by the assembly of the reflector and the threaded member and having a part spun over the opposite side of the assembly to secure the reflector and the threaded member to each other, said threaded member comprising a sleeve, and bulb supporting means carried by said sleeve.

4. A hand lamp comprising a reflector having a central opening, a threaded sleeve having a flange shaped to correspond to the shape of the reflector adjacent the opening and having an opening in alignment with the reflector opening, a bushing having a surface receiving the flange and having a central portion extending through the openings and being spun over the surface of the reflector to secure the threaded member and the reflector to each other, and a threaded bulb supporting member carried by said theaded sleeve.

5. A hand lamp comprising a reflector having a central opening, spaced notches arranged each other, said bushing being provided with a seat, said member comprising a threaded sleeve, and means secured to the member for supporting a bulb on the seat.

6. A'hand lamp comprising a. reflector having a central opening, a threaded member having a. flange shaped to correspond to the shape of the reflector adjacent the opening, the flange having an opening inalignment with the opening in the reflector, a sleeve arranged in said openings, a

bead formed on the sleeve engaging the surface of the reflector, the lower end of the sleeve being spun over the flange to secure the threaded member and reflector to each other, said sleeve being made of predetermined length to position the bulb andcompensate for variations in the size of the reflector, and bulb supporting means carried by the threaded member.

' WALTER R. KOPP. 

